The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry (Department) is seeking proposals for the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP).
Donor Name: Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry
State: Maine
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/18/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
SCBGP is a grant program solicited annually, that funds market research, market promotion, and innovation projects that enhance the competitiveness of and create new markets for the state’s specialty crop producers.
Priority Areas
Applications that integrate one or more of the priorities below will be considered more favorably in the evaluation process.
- Projects that enhance food safety education, primarily in relation to FDA rules regarding improved handling and processing of specialty crops;
- Projects to enhance soil and ecosystem health;
- Projects that improve adaptation and increase resilience to climate-related crop disturbances in support of long-term farm business vitality and productivity, such as through projects that address specialty crop’s ability to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change, conserve agricultural land and water, detect and manage emerging pests and diseases, or implementation of practices that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, and/or improve soil health;
- Projects that alleviate supply chain disruptions for specialty crop inputs, processing, or distribution.
- Projects that market Maine specialty crops to diversified and expanded markets, or that research potential market expansion efforts and strategies
The USDA encourages States to develop projects pertaining to the following issues affecting the specialty crop industry:
- Enhancing food safety;
- Improving the capacity of all entities in the specialty crop distribution chain to comply with the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (21 U.S.C. Chapter 27), for example, developing “Good Agricultural Practices,” “Good Handling Practices,” “Good Manufacturing Practices,” and in cost-share arrangements for funding audits of such systems (including USDA GAP) for small farmers, packers and processors;
- Investing in specialty crop research, including research to focus on conservation and environmental outcomes;
- Developing new and improved seed varieties and specialty crops;
- Pest and disease control;
- Increasing child and adult nutrition knowledge and consumption of specialty crops;
- Improving efficiency and reducing costs of distribution systems; and
- Sustainability.
Funding Information
The Department anticipates making multiple awards of up to $100,00.
Project Period
The Department anticipates that most SCBGP projects will be completed in one or two years (12 or 24 months).
Eligibility Criteria
Provided that Applications meet all the specifications in this Request for Applications and the USDA’s Notice of Federal Assistance, the following entities are eligible to apply for this grant:
- Individuals
- Commodity groups
- Agricultural organizations
- Buy-local organizations
- Colleges and universities
- Producers, including Native American and disadvantaged farmers
- Municipalities
- State agencies
- Agricultural nonprofit organizations
For more information, visit Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry.
